Dictionary Definition

parenthesis

1 either of two punctuation marks (or) used to enclose textual material

2 a message that departs from the main subject [syn: digression, aside, excursus, divagation] [also: parentheses (pl)]

User Contributed Dictionary

From parenthèse. From παρένθεσις

A clause, phrase or word inserted (usually for explanation or amplification) into a passage which is already grammatically complete, and usually marked off with brackets, commas or dashes.
A digression; the use of such digressions.
Either of a pair of brackets, especially round brackets, ( and ), used to enclose parenthetical material in a text.
In the context of "Mathematics|Logic": Such brackets as used to clarify expressions by grouping those terms affected by a common operator, or to enclose the components of a vector or the elements of a matrix.

a clause, phrase or word inserted into a passage which is already grammatically complete

(Rhetoric) a digression; the use of such digressions

either of a pair of brackets

both round brackets

(mathematics, logic) brackets used to clarify expressions by grouping terms affected by a common operator

Parenthesis may be:

Parenthesis, either of the curved-bracket ( ) punctuation marks that together make a set of parentheses
Parenthesis (rhetoric), an explanatory or qualifying word, clause, or sentence

NOTE: Curly brackets and Square brackets [] are NOT CALLED parentheses.

parenthesis in German: Klammer

parenthesis in French: Accolade